Liverpool City Council approves two FCH schemes

Two schemes designed by Liverpool architect Falconer Chester Hall have received approval from Liverpool City Council planning committee.

One is for the conversion of the former Council Municipal Buildings into a four-star hotel, and the other for a sheltered housing scheme.

The former home of Liverpool City Council is to be converted into a luxury four- star hotel.

Proposals were submitted by the Singapore-based Fragrance Group to create a 185-bed hotel in the former Municipal
Buildings on Dale Street.

The proposals also include a four-storey extension to the rear of the existing Grade II-listed building.

“This is a significant commission for us to convert a building that had been at the centre of the city’s public life for more than a century and a half,” said Alastair Shepherd, director of Falconer Chester Hall.

“We will carry out a sensitive refurbishment of the existing highly decorative spaces and deliver a scheme the site and its history deserve.

“This consent is testimony to the close working relationship with Historic England and the council’s conservation department,” he added.

Guests will have access to outstanding facilities including a spa, gym and spectacular top-lit swimming pool. The hotel will also have conference and meeting facilities, plus large, unique guest suites and a restaurant spilling out into the atrium.

The grand main entrance on Dale Street will be retained, and the division of existing rooms to create new bedrooms will be dictated by the existing window pattern, decorative ceilings and structural masonry walls.

The new extension will be modern, contrasting with the existing building but subservient in scale with bronze colour cladding and glass detailing.

When completed, the hotel will add to the Fragrance Group’s growing portfolio of hotels in the UK, which includes properties in Manchester, Blackpool, Harrogate, Paignton and Torquay.

Liverpool Municipal Buildings

Meanwhile, a sheltered housing scheme that will include a rooftop terrace and cinema room was also approved by the planning committee.

The development, on West Derby Road, has been designed by Falconer Chester Hall for West Tree Estates and will contain 112 one- and two-bedroom flats.

The development – on land currently used as a car park – will range in height from two to six storeys – reinstating the historic massing along West Derby Road and revitalising the street scene.

The accommodation will be managed by Croft Housing Association who have operated in the city for 25 years and who are committed to the principles of sustainable design to reduce the impact and running costs of the building,

“This project represents something of a departure for us and we are delighted to have been given the opportunity by West Tree Estates to widen our portfolio with this type of development,” said Falconer Chester Hall managing director Adam Hall.

“We have listened to the city council, ward councillors and neighbouring residents to produce a scheme which will work for its intended occupiers and within the context of the locality.”

Facilities will include a communal rooftop terrace, residents’ lounges and a flexible cinema/community room.

There will also be 29 parking spaces on site, and all the apartments will be wheelchair adaptable.

“The development aims to provide a new benchmark for sheltered accommodation for the over-60s in the city in terms of quality of accommodation and facilities,” said Mr Hall.